Category: General

You thought I was gone, but…..

It’s been a while since my last serious post.

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been working myself harder than I should be, either it be working 11- or 12-hour days, stressing out about stuff way beyond my control, or just being under pressure from many different directions.
For those of you geekily inclined, here’s a quick rundown of the systems literally dumped into my hands upon arrival:

  1. Web Server (Including email via POP3, SMTP) is a shared hosted server on Solaris 5.8 (ancient!) and is limited to 2GB of space, and 80 concurrent processes.
    Marketing uses it for their email blasts – using sendmail, which operates one process/thread at a time – try sending 10k emails with that. The traffic that comes to the site kills it every day, sometimes more than once.
  2. Internal server – Domain controller is a crappy, souped up desktop, running Win2K along with the fileserver, Visual SourceSafe and general dumping ground.
  3. Internet line – the entire office is running off a 1.5MB ADSL line – precisely the same as what I have at home.

Now, for the past couple of months, I’ve been working up proposals to get all of this straightened out, i.e replacing the Web server with a dedicated RedHat machine, and replacing the internal server with 3 IBM monsters.

I’ve put a lot of time, and many meetings into each of these proposals, and we’ve gone round and round with suggestions, recommendations and whatnot to try to come to some sort of general structure of how a proposal should be presented. I’ve never done this, dammit. So, back to the MS Word, I go, again and again, calling suppliers, driving them nuts, and getting back data for my proposals.
So I’ve been putting in the time, and trying to maximize everything into a short period of time, which doesn’t work, along with the day-to-day problems of “my computer doesn’t work” and “can you get me this software?” and other PEBCAK issues.
It’s a struggle. On Monday, I came home earlier than I have in about a month, because I just couldn’t take it anymore.
Nobody said it would be easy. I like a good challenge. But they’re making it really challenging for me.

On a personal side, I am still trying to get over Shannon. I realized this at some point a couple of weeks ago, and have no clue as to when and how that’ll take place.
To all single women out there I’m on the market! (Maybe this’ll have some interesting effect.)

On the whole, life could be better, but I’m not exactly sure how to make that happen.

It also seems that I’ve been found by . Do I know you?

Good night everyone, I hope you can find happiness. I’m still looking.

A little something for myself

So it’s late at night again, and I’ve just spent some time catching up on some fellow LJ’ers lives and dropping my own comments.

One person in particular had written something that drove me to a little self reflection and inner thought.

Did I think I’d be where I am today ten years ago?
Did I have any clue of the events of my life that unfolded in the wacky, haphazard manner that they did?
Did I know anything about what the future is capable of developing into?

I say nay.

Life can change so much in such a rapid time, that sometimes I feel the need to tell myself, “Slow down. It’ll all be OK.” And it usually does turn out OK. I may not see it so soon, I might not know it until much later, but for some strange reason, I know that regardless if there is fate or not, regardless if there is a God, regardless of the imbalance of the universe from the point of view of a slice of fairy cake, things have a good chance of turning out pretty well.

Some would call me an optimist. Others – clueless. Yet more would classify me as a “true believer” – belief in what, who’s to say – but I don’t really think so.
I guess I see myself as a realist most of the time, with both optimistic and pessimistic tendencies. Does that balance out? I don’t know, and I’ve yet to find a shrink that will admit to having met a “balanced” person. Some see me as gruff, coarse, hell, I call myself a redneck some of the time. Others have called me “sweet” (ugh) and “a nice person”. Yet there are those who will forever remember me as “that bastard” and “evil”, and one guy knows me as “the guy who broke my ribs”, and even one guy as “the guy who nearly killed me”. Ask me sometime over a beer or tequila.
How people see is me not my concern – that’s theirs. How I see myself is more important, and even more than that – what I do about it, and how does it affect me.

The fact remains that I, and only I, live my life. Nobody ever handed me a manual or even a decent guidebook, so I’m doing what I can. Living other people’s lives doesn’t work, and I don’t care who you ask – you end up living your own life. Deal with it. Accept it. Make it your own.

Thank you for the inspiration.

What a weekend….

So this is techie weekend for me, where I explored the depths of podcasts, and podcasting and all that is involved.
Let me tell you, it’s not easy getting everything for free, but if you work at it long enough, and have a knack for the tech, you too can have a totally free podcast.
I’ve set up all the internet-related links and subscriptions, so now all I have to do is really record a podcast.
The only thing holding me back is that I managed to royally screw up my system, as I had configured it to use about 3 primary inputs and about 30-40 secondaries and killed something along the way.
Needless to say, I feel a mite foolish. So after evaluating the situation, a full systems reconstruction will take place soon, hopefully sometime this week (if I can free up enough space by burning tons of CD’s).
Once I’m back up, beware!
The floor is open to ideas, suggestions, volunteers to come talk on the show about something they know a lot about. Drop me an email at miketheman [at] gmail [dot] com.

Oh, for those who still don’t know what I’m talking about, get educated.

So here it is…

Ok, it’s been a bit, and I’m over due, yet again, for an update.

The aftermath of my skid is still apparent, and hurts a lot. Ugh. It will pass, and the only thing it’s really preventing me from doing is dancing – and I don’t have any of that scheduled right now.
Last night, I went to see a farewell show for the director/producer of many theatrical endeavors at the Merkaz, and it was a lot of fun seeing a bunch of friend stand up and perform different bits of past performances, sometimes in slightly different ways.
It was also fun seeing the crowd again, and I feel that an era has passed.

At work, I have thrown myself deep in to getting things done, insofar that I have retaught myself what little SQL I knew, learned more, wrote some code in Visual Basic (which I also don’t know) and managed to build a working macro to make life a little easier. A great sense of accomplishment, especially since I am not a programmer! Take that, Computer Science junkies!

I’ve discovered the world of podcasts, and have some on the new version of iTunes, and they are a nice addition to the background noise at work. The concept is pretty cool, and I think I’d like to talk to a friend of mine into recording a show once a week and having my own podcast sometime. Who knows, it might even interest someone.

Other than that stuff, not a lot is new, trying to keep my head above the proverbial water, and to try to have a good time now and then.

Enjoy life while you have it.

Ouch

So tonight leaves me with mixed feelings.
Today was a nice day, I got to the office really late, got some stuff done, and left early to go to a really cool wedding.
Everyone was there. A large amount of people who read this were there, and you’ll forgive me for not enumerating you, as I am typing this with one thumb on my handheld.
Tamar and Assaf were both lovely, and it was a wedding to remember.
The company was fantastic, and the music was great. Dancing up a storm, having a grand time with everyone.
Being as the wedding was way out in the middle of nowhere, I had arranged to stay at Joe’s & Josh’s parents place in Ra’anana, as they were both there as well.
The ride back was OK, but when I arrived to the city, the main street was covered with water. Now, to a car, this isn’t as problematic, but on my bike, I slowed down considerably.
At one of the last junctions before I arrived, the light was red, so I began to slow down.
Apparently not enough.
I wiped out, and slid a good 3-4 meters, with my left leg trapped under the handlebar. My only thought was: “Son of a bitch!” and think I might have actually yelled that out loud.
A guy who pulled up a the light helped me get free, and then helped me lift my bike up. By then, a bunch of kids hanging out had gathered around, and started making unhelpful suggestions, like “Do you want us to call an ambulance?” and “You should sue the city!” ad nauseum.
With my left leg hurting like hell, my left mirror now dismantled, and one of my brights dangling, I set back on track to my destination.
My leg hurts like hell, and that is the singular event that mars this entire evening.
My leg hurts like a bitch.

YAWN

So I’m sitting here, now having previously dealt with the music meme thingie.
I also took the MIT questionnaire, so apparently….

Take the MIT Weblog Survey

Come to think of it, that’s not the first time I’ve broken a law…..

This past week has been fairly interesting, ending up as follows:
Wednesday, I had a personal victory at work, when my boss’s manager asked me to look into a Windows server solution for our web site, as they have strategic plans for the future. For the past two weeks, I’ve been investing time and effort in getting all the information down for a RH Linux server. Needless to say, I was a little pissed off.
So I spent the rest of the day investigating a Windows solution, including the time and effort it would take to migrate etc… and finally informed the manager with my findings, as well as my professional recommendation. He told me to forget the Windows solution for now, and proceed as planned. Yay!
Wednesday night, the opening of Hebrew Book Week, there was a mass happening in the German Colony – Emek Refa’im to be exact – where it was pretty much cordoned off, and many restaurant booths and other merchandise was available, as well as artistic stuff and more. I sat with a friend at a outside wine bar, and met a friend of his whom he had known forever, and struck up some conversation. My friend was nice enough to leave us alone for a bit, and I thought we hit it off quite well, (despite? thanks to?) the amount of wine she had drank was enough to intoxicate her a bit. As she left, she mentioned that my friend has her number, and I asked her if she’d mind me calling her. She was amiable to the offer, and I felt pretty elated.
Thursday was another exciting day at the grind, where I got to play with many more fun gadgets and boy, some of them are real zingers.
I left work early, and rushed back to Jerusalem for Bidyon, where I got to meet up with all the awesomely weird folks some call “fen”. I call them “those weird people who I happen to know”. 🙂
I sat out the first round, as I had finished my main part of getting things up and running smoothly and on time, and still had work to finish from earlier. So I wandered around while on my phone(s), and met people outside where we chatted and enjoyed the company. I also made a valuable business connection, so it really paid off.
While roving the area, I called the lady I’d met the previous night, and asked her out. She kind of snubbed me, although I don’t think she meant to. So she has my number now, and if she wants to call, then she’ll call. Oh well. NEXT!
During the break between rounds, everyone came outside to look for refreshments and discussion. Lucky for me, was there, and we got to have a good time talking and laughing while surrounded by Kenny’s and other people. On the way back, we stopped at an author‘s booth and had fun chatting there too.
For the record, I explained to that the theory of the universe having 9/10 missing mass is actually all made up by my ego. She disputed this and we have to have some sort of measurement made. We also have to measure who has a dirtier mind, because she says that she’s got one worse than my own. Huh. Good luck, missy. 🙂
Back into the second round, I sat with Didi, whom I had previously made fun of for having an Anglo-female name, and we had a great time listening and commenting amongst ourselves on the subject matter. The moderator was very passionate about the subject, and the speakers were great. Michal Regev, Dr. Raz Dekel, Guy Viner, and Joe Brown. All good speakers, and all deserve their own slots to speak at length on these subjects. Didi and I still had fun ridiculing some remarks, and appreciating others.
After it was over, we headed back to my place to relax.
Friday was a bit busy, as I went by the bike shop, and am putting the bike in for the day for maintenance tomorrow. Went shopping too, and made delicious burritos with refried beans, veggies and cheeses for dinner. Yummy.
Today was a nice relaxed morning. Early afternoon, I went to the Palmahim beach to catch some sun and waves. It was beautiful and I have a slight tan. Just a touch really.

Behind the cut are some thumbnails of pictures from .


The first thing you see when arriving is Rami and more manning the tables, selling tickets, memberships and merchandise.


Here we can see Doron, Hagit, Joe and Vered. Joe is apperently hiding behind his book so we don’t see his real face. Boojie is lovely as ever, all decked out in her signature purple colors, with the trademarked blue highlight.


Here we have Keren, the Con Manager, behind the podium for her opening speech. Didi, of Internet fame. Next is Shlamko taking a picture of me taking a picture of him. How original. Last, is Rivka and myself schmoozing outside, taking my details, probably for some strange future usage.


So in the early stages of crowding, it wasn’t so crowded, but as time passed, more and more people showed up, and then starting playing around, as crowds are so prone to do. Apparently, some members were not concentrating on the event itself, preferring to kick back and chat, catch some Z’s etc.


From the second round, the panelists. Next is Gali Golan and Michal Regev, followed by Joe brown and Guy Viner. Apparently, Keren was happy (or scary?) as she gave me one seriously frightening smile. She kept on going on about how she wished she had her sword with her….

And you can see Didi’s pictures of Bidyon 2005 here.

Round 2

For those interested in the music thingie –

1. You burden me with your questions
You’d have me tell no lies
2. Tommy gun/ You ain’t happy less you got one –
3. I been through so many changes in my life
It’s a wonder I ain’t lost my mind
4. This hurt this pain
slats of light on the window frame
5. First thing I remember was asking papa why –
6. Let’s all get up and dance to a song – ,
7. You’re so hot, teasing me
So you’re blue but I can’t take a chance on a chick like you
8. Push the tempo
Push the tempo
9. I wanna know/ Who ever told you I was letting go
Of the only joy that I have ever known
10. If you leave me now, you’ll take away the biggest part of me –
11. God rest ye merry gentlemen – I have a specific artist in mind. If nobody guesses…. then takes it.
12. For your pleasure
In our present state
13. Dreaming comes so easily
Cause it’s all that I’ve known
14. An earthly nourris sits and sings
And aye she sings `Ba lily wain
15. When the clock strikes two
There’s so much to do
16. Well tonight if you turn your radio on
You might hear a sad, sad song
17. When light goes down, I see no reason –
18. Join me for a ride/ Speed up the music
Join me for a ride, maximum overdrive
19. My god sits in the back of the limousine
my god comes in a wrapper of cellophane
20. Thinkin’ ’bout the night life
In the ladies powder room
21. Yeah, yeah, yeah
There’s a hole in my life
22. It’s getting to the point
Where I’m no fun anymore
23. Is night shift okay with you? Yes. Hey, well you got yourself a job, homey.
Graveyard shift ain’t never dead. We got to work when people go to bed.
24. Once we were lovers, can they understand?
Closer than others I was your, I was your man
25. Take the national express when your life’s in a mess
It’ll make you smile

Only 7 out of 25…. that’s not good numbers people. Broaden your scope of music!

Music meme thingie

Courtesy of –

1. You burden me with your questions
2. Tommy gun/ You ain’t happy less you got one
3. I been through so many changes in my life
4. This hurt this pain
5. First thing I remember was asking papa why
6. Let’s all get up and dance to a song
7. You’re so hot, teasing me
8. Push the tempo
9. I wanna know/ Who ever told you I was letting go
10. If you leave me now, you’ll take away the biggest part of me
11. God rest ye merry gentlemen
12. For your pleasure
13. Dreaming comes so easily
14. An earthly nourris sits and sings
15. When the clock strikes two
16. Well tonight if you turn your radio on
17. When light goes down, I see no reason
18. Join me for a ride/ Speed up the music
19. My god sits in the back of the limousine
20. Thinkin’ ’bout the night life
21. Yeah, yeah, yeah
22. It’s getting to the point
23. Is night shift okay with you? Yes. Hey, well you got yourself a job, homey.
24. Once we were lovers, can they understand?
25. Take the national express when your life’s in a mess

Seriously, good luck. I’ll be surprised if half of the list gets answered correctly.